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The International Documentary Festival Amsterdam has announced the 55 documentary projects selected for this year’s IDFA Forum, chosen from among 820 entries.
Among the prominent names heading to the forum, which runs November 17-20, is Emmy winner Eva Mulvad (The Cave), who will pitch her upcoming project House of the Holy Father, co-directed with Andreas Koefoed. “In an intriguing cinematic exercise that straddles fiction and documentary,” a release notes, “the film seeks to bare intricate workings of domination and manipulation, as ex-members of the notorious Christian sect Faderhuset direct scenes with well-known Danish actors, including Trine Dyrholm and David Dencik.”
Israeli filmmaker Tomer Heymann (Mr. Gaga: A True Story of Love and Dance, Jonathan Agassi Saved My Life), who has won prizes at film festivals around the world, will participate in the Rough Cut Presentations section with Issa’s House, a film set in the West Bank. Another film shot in that same area – Francesca Tosarelli and Kamal Al Azraq’s The West Bank Project – will take part in the Pitch Forum.
Four-time Oscar nominee Signe Byrge Sørensen (Flee, The Look of Silence, The Act of Killing) co-produces Nanyang, directed by Enrico Parenti, and produced by Susanna Trojano, a project that will get a hearing at the Pitch Forum. Also coming to the Pitch Forum is an untitled Chilean documentary directed by Carola Fuentes and produced by Oscar-nominee Ina Fichman (Fire of Love) and Rafael Valdeavellano.
Oscar-nominated producer Rémi Grellety (I Am Not Your Negro) serves as a co-producer on The Apologist, directed by Kristof Bilsen, another of the projects invited to participate in the Pitch Forum. [Scroll for the full list of films selected this year].
IDFA Forum, the festival’s co-production and co-financing market, will feature a range of projects with “resonant stories, daring artistic visions, and a willingness to push narrative and stylistic boundaries,” the festival writes. “This year’s selection is dominated by women filmmakers across all formats, including the Forum Pitch, Producer Connection, Rough Cut Presentations, and IDFA DocLab Forum. Production countries span all continents, with Europe taking the lead, followed by Asia, the Americas, and Africa.”
Adriek van Nieuwenhuijzen, head of IDFA Industry, said in a statement, “IDFA proudly presents a very strong selection of projects that capture the spirit of the times and reflect on our society in a critical and idiosyncratic way. It is a varied selection in terms of both theme and style, made by talented newcomers and established makers who together represent a colorful palette of voices.”
Among the other notable projects that earned the right to pitch at IDFA Forum is one that draws on archive from the twilight of the Soviet Union.
“Alexander Mihalkovich returns to the festival to pitch Transparency Booth: Echoes of the Future, alongside Anna Kapustina,” IDFA says. “The project ushers us through ‘Perestroika’ in the ‘Transparency Booth’, an inflatable confessional that allowed for a rare moment of unhindered self-expression in the final years of the USSR—which, from today’s vantage point, offers revealing insight into history’s foresight.”
These are the 55 projects selected for the 32nd IDFA Forum, listed by section:
Forum Pitch Overview:
Burning Daddy, dir. Tana Gilbert, prod. Paola Castillo/Errante (Chile), co-prod. Dirk Manthey/Dirk Manthey Film (Germany)
Untitled Chilean Documentary, dir. Carola Fuentes, prod. Rafael Valdeavellano/LaVentana Cine (Chile), pro. Ina Fichman/Intuitive Pictures Inc. (Canada)
Concrete Land, dir. Asmahan Bkerat, prod. Asmahan Bkerat, Ban Maraqa (Jordan), co-prod. Sam Soko (Kenya)
Dry Sky, dir. Ibrahim Omar, prod. Ibrahim Omar, Sudan Film Institute (Sudan), Aya Yusuf/Shogl Cairo Pictures (Egypt), co-prod. Nadim Cheikhrouha/Tanit Films (France)
Home Movie, dir. Anu Czerwiński, prod. Anna Stylińska, Katarzyna Slesicka/My Way Studio (Poland), co-prod. Alex Tondowski/Tondowski Films (Germany)
House of the Holy Father, dir. Eva Mulvad, Andreas Koefoed, prod. Pernille Rose Grønkjær/Danish Documentary Production, Emil Wergeland/Danish Documentary Production (Denmark)
Nanyang, dir. Enrico Parenti, prod. Susanna Trojano/Elliot Films (Italy), co-prod. Signe Byrge Sørensen/Final Cut for Real (Denmark)
Queen of the Stone Age, dir. David Bernet, prod. Sarah Born/Catpics (Switzerland), Katharina Bergfeld/Ma.ja.de. Filmproduktions (Germany), co-prod. Rajko Jazbec/Catpics, Dario Schoch/Catpics
Replica, dir. Chouwa Liang, prod. Andy Huang/Axel Rise Films (Australia)
The Apologist, dir. Kristof Bilsen, prod. Kristof Bilsen/Limerick Films, co-prod. Rémi Grellety/Warboys Films, Sara Skrodzka/Warboys Films (France), Nienke Korthof/Tangerine Tree (The Netherlands), Benoît Roland/Wrong Men North (Belgium)
The Beauty of Errors, dir. Jukka Kärkkäinen, prod. Juha Löppönen/Mouka Filmi, Sami Jahnukainen/Mouka Filmi (Finland), co-prod. Ove Rishøj Jensen/Auto Images, Magnus Gertten/Auto Images, Carsten Aanonsen/Indie Film (Sweden, Norway)
The Eighth Continent, dir. Luuk Bouwman, Tomas Kaan, prod. Lea Fels/Scenery, Nanneke Landman/Scenery (The Netherlands)
Confidential project, dir. a collective of filmmakers from Afghanistan
In Front of Us, dir. Inna Sahakyan, prod. Vardan Hovhannisyan/Bars Media Documentary Film Studio (Armenia), co-prod. Inna Sahakyan/Bars Media Films (United States)
The Return, dir. Aliona van der Horst, prod. Ilja Roomans/Docmakers (The Netherlands)
The Road, dir. Cécile Allegra, Antarès Bassis, prod. Estelle Robin You/Grande Ourse Films (France)
The Way We Move, dir. Nicolas Davenel, Vanessa Dumont, prod. Matthieu Belghiti/What’s Up Films (France), co-prod. Arnaud Le Guilcher/Wagram Productions, Hubert Cornet/Wagram Productions
Transparency Booth: Echoes of the Future, dir. Anna Kapustina, Alexander Mihalkovich, prod. Anna Kapustina/Albatros Communicos Film Production, Alexander Mihalkovich/Albatros Communicos Film Production (Ukraine)
The West Bank Project, dir. Francesca Tosarelli and Kamal Al Azraq, prod. Kamal Al Azraq/Voirex Production Company, Francesca Tosarelli (State of Palestine, Italy)
Your Honour, dir. Bircan Birol, prod. Reece Cargan/Bombito Productions (United Kingdom)
Producers Connection Overview:
As Red as Water, dir. Fabrizio Albertini, prod. Giorgio Viscardini/Studio x01, co-prod.Gabriele Rossi/ Studio x01 (Italy)
Chunyu: A Death Foretold, dir. Fan Yang, prod. Yiqian Zhang/Electric Shadow (Canada), co-prod. Fan Yang (China)
Clones In Heat, dir. Andrew Moir, prod. Jessica Adams/Hands Up Films (Canada)
Emptiness, dir. Viesturs Kairšs, prod. Gints Grūbe/Mistrus Media, Elīna Gedina-Ducena/Mistrus Media (Latvia), co-prod. Livia Radulescu/Dash Film (Romania)
Expelled, dir. Tudor Platon, prod. Carla Fotea/microFILM, Ada Solomon/microFILM (Romania)
For Those Who Will Inherit The Earth, dir. Sara Hatira, prod. Sophie Haikali/Joe Vision Production (Namibia), co-prod. Tiny Mungwe/STEPS, Don Edkins/STEPS (South Africa)
Green Gold, dir. Selim Benzeghia, Ivonne Serna, prod. Geoffrey Livolsi/Tati Films (France)
How Love Moves, dir. Pallavi Paul, prod. Aman Mann/KiteRabbit Films (India)
Looking for the Mermaid, dir. Yara Costa, prod. Yara Costa/YC Films (Mozambique), co-prod. Tiny Mungwe (South Africa)
Matriarchy, dir. Zara Arrehed, prod. Malcolm Dixelius/Dixit International, Ilja Stenberg/Dixit International (Sweden), co-prod. Esther van Messel/First Hand Films, Daniel Schneider/First Hand Films (Switzerland)
People’s Republic of Letters, dir. Ruoyun Chen, prod. Ruoyun Chen/9BULAS (United States), co-prod. Kayo Zhang
The Long Rescue, dir. Jennifer Huang, prod. Jennifer Huang/Treeclimber Media, Jethro Patalinghug (United States), co-prod. Hanz Florentino/ Studio Inspiro (Philippines)
Untitled KQT Project, dir. Patrick Lee, prod. Patrick Lee/Patrick G. Lee LLC, Pulkit Datta (United States)
Rough-Cut Presentations Overview:
Between Brothers, dir. Tom Fassaert, prod. Renko Douze/Een van de jongens (the Netherlands), co-prod. Hasse van Nunen for Een van de jongens (the Netherlands), Hanne Phlypo/Clin d’oeil films (Belgium)
Copan, dir. Carine Wallauer, prod. Camilo Cavalcanti/Clariô Filmes, Viviane Mendonça/MVM Movimentos Culturais (Brazil), co-prod. Justin Pechberty/Les Valseurs, Nabil Bellahsene/Les Valseurs (France), Lea Fels/Scenery (the Netherlands)
Crocodile, dir. Pietra Brettkelly, The Critics/Clan Yujo, prod. Pietra Brettkelly (New Zealand), The Critics/Clan Yujo (Nigeria)
Do You Love Me, dir. Lana Daher, prod. prod. Jean-Laurent Csinidis/Films de Force Majeure (France), Lana Daher/My Little Films (Lebanon), co-prod. Jasper Mielke/Wood Water Films (Germany)
The Eternal Soldier, dir. Aleksandar Nikolic, prod. Miloš Ivanović/Set Sail Films (Serbia), Friedemann Hottenbacher/Inselfilm Produktion (Germany), co-prod. Monica Lăzurean-Gorgan/Manifest Film (Romania), Jure Pavlovic/Sekvenca (Croatia), Mandy Chang/Undeniable Productions (United Kingdom)
Issa’s House, dir. Tomer Heymann, prod. Tomer Heymann/Heymann Brothers Films, Ahmad Amro (State of Palestine), Leigh Heiman/Heymann Brothers Films (Israel), co-prod. Estelle Fialon/Les Films du Poisson (France)
Whispers in May, dir. Dongnan Chen, prod. Jia Zhao/Muyi Film (China, the Netherlands), co-prod. Heejung Oh/Seesaw Films (South Korea)
IDFA DocLab Forum Overview:
Amorphous, dir. May Abdalla, prod. Kirsty Jennings/Anagram (United Kingdom), co-prod. Katayoun Dibamehr/Floreal Films (France)
Atomic Paradise: The Unseen Horizon, dir. John Harvey, prod. Sally Aitken/SAM Content (Australia)
Battlefield of Dreams, dir. Floor Houwink ten Cate, prod. Anne Breure/Theater Utrecht (the Netherlands), co-prod. (United Kingdom)
Beyond? dir. Yango González, prod. Yango González (Germany)
From Memory, dir. John Nathan, Damian Hale, prod. Toby Coffey (United Kingdom), co-prod. Alex Eckford
Homeing: Lost&Found Bureau, dir. Maria Kremer, prod. Maria Kremer/zvon studio/Homeing platform (Armenia), co-prod. Alina Mikhaleva Savelyeva/Less Media Group (Georgia)
I M U, dir. Juul van der Laan, prod. Juul van der Laan/studio thnkthnk (the Netherlands), co-prod. V2_ (the Netherlands)
Lady Lazarus, dir. Willemiek Kluijfhout, prod. Nienke Huitenga/Studio ZZZAP (the Netherlands)
Normandie: A Documentary Video Game, dir. Sam Butin, prod. Nicolás Escarpentier/On The March (United States)
Slipstreaming, dir. Giuseppe Chico, prod. Barbara Matijević (France, Croatia)
The Four Floors of Faneuil Hall, dir. Simon Wood, Meghna Singh, prod. Simon Wood, Meghna Singh (South Africa, United States)
The Library of All Possible Things, dir. Maria Laura Ruggiero, Ana Fraile, prod. Ana Fraile/Pulpo Films, Maria Laura Ruggiero/SeirenFilms (Argentina), co-prod. (United Kingdom)
The Time of a Moment, dir. Kate Voet, Victor Maes, prod. Emmy Oost/Cassette for timescapes, An Oost/Cassette for timescapes (Belgium), co-prod. (Luxembourg, the Netherlands)
to the other side… dir. Oliver Czeslik, prod. Kathrin Brunner/mYndstorm productions (Germany)
Trolls vs Elves, dir. Aleks Rydzkowska, prod. Aleks Rydzkowska (Poland, United Kingdom)
